Honor, by stating the truth, & arrogance, by stating falsehood:
My parents were joyful when they read my name in the official daily newspaper for winning first place at the state level in my major.
My father was surprised the next day by a colleague, his daughter with me in the same batch. He said to my father proudly: My daughter won first place at the state level.
My father told him:
What are you proud of? It is written on the newspaper that my daughter won the first place, and his colleague was very embarrassed.
In this case, my father acknowledged the truth, and his colleague rejected it.
When I remember this story, an amazing definition of the meaning of arrogance comes to mind, said by the tongue of the Messenger, may God grant him peace:
Anyone has an atom’s weight of arrogance in his heart will not enter Paradise.” A man said:” What if one likes his clothes and shoes to look good?” He said: “Verily, Allah is beautiful and He loves beauty. Arrogance is to reject the truth and oppress people.
We understand from the words of the Prophet that:
Not accepting the truth and trying to manipulate it is arrogance. The injustice committed by some people is also arrogance because it puts something in its wrong place. It aso goes beyond the limit, and infringes on people’s rights, which is against the truth.
As for the holder of the truth, he tells the reality and clings to justice. This is self-confidence.
Here is the big difference between self-confidence and arrogance.
Self-confidence is directly related to the truth, while arrogance is related to falsehood.
Many non-Muslims wonder about the words of the Messenger of God in which he introduces himself:
So I am the master of the children of Adam, without pride. And I am the first for which the earth will be split open, and I am the first intercessor, and the first to be granted intercession.
They say:
Isn’t this arrogance?
We say to them:
As long as the information is linked to the truth, it is not arrogance.
The Creator said about His Messenger:
Nor does he speak of his own whims ( Qur’an. An-Najm: 3)
What the Messenger of God tells us is a revelation from the Creator, which is a fact.
Doesn’t a boxing champion introduce himself by saying: I am the boxing champion of this year, and the PHD holder introduces himself by saying: I am a PHD holder?
One day a Spanish lady asked me:
Why does the Creator insist that He is the only God and does not accept human worship of others, is this not arrogance?
I told her:
Does the mother accept that her children give the title “mother” to someone else?
The mother would say: I am the one who has the right to be respected and obeyed.
The mother is not considered arrogant here because she acknowledges the truth, and no one will question and denounce her right because it is a given.
The same applies, for example, to any ruler and official. Does the king of the country accept that his people give the title of king to someone else?
The Creator said about himself:
He is Allah—there is no god except Him: the King, the Most Holy, the All-Perfect, the Source of Serenity, the Watcher ˹of all˺, the Almighty, the Supreme in Might (The Supremely Proud). the Majestic. Glorified is Allah far above what they associate with Him ˹in worship˺! (Qur’an Al-Hashr:23)
Pride is one of the Creator’s attributes of perfection, while it is a deficiency of the creature, because the creature does not qualify for this trait, considering the creature constantly needs sustenance and care. Also, he doesn’t know everything, is unable to do everything, and cannot avoid death.
The arrogant human is like the janitor in the hospital, for example, who wears the doctor’s uniform and is proud of himself, yet he does not have the qualifications for being a doctor. So, in this case, he is dangerous for the patients and must be punished.
The meaning of the Supreme in Might in the above Quranic verse is the Great, the one Who is proud, transcendent of the qualities of creation, and of shortcomings. The Superior over the oppressors of His creation.
The pride here as well is greatness and kingship, or it is an expression of the self-perfection and the perfection of existence. Only the Creator can be described by these charactaristics.
The name of God (the arrogant) spreads peace and tranquility among people, for there is no greater mercy than His. There is no knowledge greater than his knowledge. There is no power greater than his.
Arrogance does not suit humans, because they are not qualified for it. If arrogance enters the human heart, it makes him oppress, dominate and deny human rights.
As for the Creator, with His attribute (the arrogant), He is merciful, just, forgiving and gracious. He is too arrogant to commit injustice to any of His servants, and arrogant to be submissive to anyone. He has the absolute free-will.
God Almighty said:
Pride is My cloak and greatness My robe, and he who competes with Me in respect of either of them I shall cast into Hell-fire.
Whoever’s arrogant is like wearing something that doesn’t belong to him.
He is the Creator and everything else is created. He is the Sustainer and what else is being sustained. He is the ever-living and everything else dies.
He is big and everything else is small. Knowing the name of God, (the arrogant), makes a person resort only to Him and fear only Him, and he does not return to anyone else.
And the Creator is the Truth.
The Creator said about himself:
That is because Allah ˹alone˺ is the Truth and what they invoke besides Him is falsehood, and Allah ˹alone˺ is truly the Most High, All-Great (Qur’an.Al- Haj: 62).
The Creator’s name (the Truth) reflects His reality, for all His actions are true, all His attributes are true, and His words are true, and everything that the Creator commands is an established truth, and everything that He forbids is vanity and transient.
Thus, everything that is true is right, and everything that is wrong is false. This is the overall concept of the term right and the term false.
Islam came to establish truth regarding the Creator of the universe first, and then establish truth regarding the creatures.
Say, ‘Tell me about your partners [you ascribe to God] whom you invoke besides God? Show me what [part] of the earth have they created. Do they have any share in the heavens?’ Have we given them a scripture so that they stand on a manifest proof thereof? Rather the wrongdoers do not promise one another [anything] except delusion[125].
The verse here indicates that worshiping someone else apart from God is claiming they are deities, while God must be a creator. The proof that He is the Creator is either witnessed by what He created in the universe or by witnessing God’s inspiration, who proved to be the Creator.
So, if this claim does not have evidence from the creation of the universe, nor have proof from the Creator’s words, then the claim necessarily is null.
Honor and pride are linked to the justice that Islam came to establish on earth.
Justice that puts things right and gives everyone his right.
- Giving the Creator (the Power in heavens) His right by worshiping Him alone and bearing witness that He is the One. He has no parents, no child, and no equal. In addition, knowing and understanding that God (Creator) is beyond incarnating in the form of humans, animals, idols, etc.
- Giving every human his right to communicate with his Creator directly, personally, and without any intermediary (priest, saint, idol, etc.). Seeking refuge when needed and in adversities directly in the Creator and not in any prophet, including the final Prophet of God Muhammad.
- Establishing equality among humans and helping humanity get rid of abhorrent racial intolerance. There is no difference between an Arab and a non-Arab except for piety.
O mankind, indeed We have created you from male and female and made you peoples and tribes that you may know one another. Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of God is the most righteous of you. Indeed, God is Knowing and Acquainted [154].
- Providing freedom of choice to allow people to choose their religion and practice its rituals freely.
Let there be no compulsion in religion, for the truth stands out clearly from falsehood. So whoever renounces false gods and believes in Allah has certainly grasped the firmest, unfailing hand-hold. And Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing [155].
- Ending oppression and injustice on earth.
Honor by setting priorities & arrogance by letting go of responsibilities.
The Creator mentioned in the Holy Qur’an the story of Prophet Joseph, peace be upon him, where Prophet Joseph said to the king of Egypt:
He (Joseph) said: “Place me in charge over the store-houses of the land, for I am a good custodian, a knowledgeable one.” ( Qur’an Yusuf: 55).
Here, the Prophet Joseph praised himself. It is permissible to praise oneself if people do not know the capabilities of this person if needed. Prophet Joseph mentioned that he is a good custodian and knowledgeable one.
Doesn’t the doctor introduce himself when having a patient, and doesn’t the computer engineer introduce himself when examining a defect in a computer?
However:
- Whoever is proud of his lineage is blameworthy arrogant.
- Whoever is proud of his physical appearance, is arrogant.
The Messenger of God said:
One will not enter Paradise, if one has an atom’s weight of arrogance in his/her heart.
Also he said:
Whoever humbles himself by a degree for Allah, glory be to Him, Allah will raise him by a degree. Whoever is arrogant to Allah by a degree, Allah will lower him by a degree until he is made ‘the lowest of the low.
The preferred criterion is:
- The degree of man’s awareness of the Creator’s supervision, and the awareness of His absolute knowledge.
- The degree of man’s relationship strength with the Creator.
- The degree to which a person’s life is centered around the Creator, by making the Creator a priority in his life.
- Individual capabilities, qualifications, freedom of choice, and therefore responsibility.
A British atheist once said:
How does a believer give priority to the Creator over his children? How does he prioritize something he does not see and is unknown to him?
I said to him:
You are now giving priority to your mind that you don’t see and relying on it to judge things. Unfortunately, your mind has let you down.
How do you trust your mind when it did not guide you to the source of the existence of this mind?
How can you trust your rationality when your rationality is not directed toward the truth but only toward procreation and survival according to you? Thinking is a quality that revolves around truth, not about survival and procreation.
The Darwinists, by their admission, faced the problem of the source of human rationality and wondered, how does an inanimate, metaphysical matter appear in the tangible matter that leads to rationality?
How does rationality arise from a random, irrational source? And they acknowledged that their theory does not answer this question as we mentioned and could not give an explanation for it.
They admitted that their theory did not answer this question, and could not give an explanation for it.
How can an atheist trust his mind and logic while his mind did not help him to recognise the source of his sanity?
Here the Darwinists ran into a problem, which is the source of human sanity.
The fact that the existence of the Creator that the human recognises by his innate nature is the only explanation for the existence of human rationality.
The role of the mind is to logically reason and judge matters and then approve them. The inability of the mind to reach the purpose of man’s existence, for example, does not nullify his role but instead allows religion to tell him what he was unable to comprehend. So, religion tells him about his Creator, the source of his existence, and the purpose of his existence to establish understanding, judgment, and belief. Based on this information, the recognition of the existence of the Creator did not disrupt the mind or logic.
I also told him:
- He who endowed you with reason must have priority over your intellect.
- He who gave you children should have priority over your children.
The Creator is the source of existence and the last resort.
Here, people differ.
Man has freedom of choice in relation to what he knows and controls; he is preordained with regard to what he does not know or control. Judgment follows responsibility. Thus, God will not judge us for our physical appearance, our social status or tribal affiliations. Rather, the preference is in determining his priorities.
Honor by having the truth & arrogance by having the falsehood:
Many people wonder about the importance of the phrase that a Muslim always repeats, which says: Thank God for the blessing of Islam.
What is a Muslim proud of? What is the advantage that Islam has over other religions?
We tell them:
The Muslim praises his Creator for having guided him and enabled him to worship Him alone, for he does not worship a tree or a stone, nor does he worship a person or an animal—the true Muslim resorts to his Creator directly and not through a saint or priest.
The true Muslim does not resort to the saint’s graves and does not ask and seek forgiveness from the Messenger or any of the Messenger’s family.
A Muslim is proud of his direct communication with the King of Kings. A Muslim is proud of being free from the enslavement of the creation.
There is no pluralism in the truth.
The adherent to the right is not arrogance because it is a statement of the truth.
An Australian lady once told me:
Why do you speak so confidently about your religion? Is this not arrogance by your insistence that your religion is the truth?
I told her:
Someone else may speak with the same insistence and intensity of style and in the same mood and be arrogant, yes this is true, because he rejected the truth and defended falsehood. However, in my case, this is not arrogance, but rather pride in the true religion.
Honor and pride are closely related to the truth, and arrogance is linked to falsehood.
She said:
Why is the right with you? Why is the absolute truth with Muslims? Why is the absolute truth not with the Hindu, who says that the Creator comes to the earth in Krishna’s form? Or with the Christian who says that the Creator comes to earth in the form of Christ?
I said to her:
The truth exists with or without us, but simply we are the ones who choose to be with the truth.
I also said:
Muslims have the “common terms” between all. The belief in the Creator is a fact that is accepted by all, even if they deny it.
Everyone resorts to the Creator (the Power in the heaven) in adversity, including atheists and Buddhists.
As for the incarnation of God, it is an illogical concept that does not befit the majesty of the Creator. The embodiment is a mystery, as the believers in it admit, while the religion of God should have no secrets in it.
God has the ideal, the player of electronic games does not become a part of the game inside his phone. The Creator controls everything from outside the universe. He created time and space for us humans.
- I hold fast to the truth when I do not send requests to any of his creatures, such as a priest or a saint, or any idol or stone, or any of his prophets or one of their family members.
- I hold fast to the truth when I do not resort by request when needed to any of His creatures, such as a priest or a saint, or any idol or stone, or any of his prophets or one of their family members.
- I hold fast to the truth when I believe in all his prophets from Adam to Muhammad, including Jesus Christ and Moses, peace upon them all.
These are the characteristics of true religion, which the human must surrender to the Creator by accepting it.
For example, when we get a pet, we want its obedience for its own good and protection, so we train it and expect obedience. We expect the template from the pet; although we didn’t create it, we just bought it. So, what about your Creator? Is He not worthy of your obedience, worship, and submission?
In most aspects of life, we already submit to God: we don’t choose our parents; our genes; don’t control our breathing, don’t pump our hearts, etc. Our Creator wants us to willingly submit to Him in other aspects where He gave us a free choice, to arrive safely.
We live in His land and eat His sustenance. People should reciprocate these blessings with the appreciation of the bounty of the Donor. Otherwise, ingratitude and lack of recognition is an underestimation of the Donor.
Adherence to the right religion is honor, lofty, and pride.
Creator said:
Do not falter or grieve, for you will have the upper hand, if you are ˹true˺ believers.(Qur’an Al Imran: 139).
The believer in the true religion has a higher status than others with his rationality and logic, which guided him to choose the true religion.
It is similar to the diligent student who distinguished himself from his classmates by choosing the correct answers on the test paper.
And to Allah belongs [all] honor, and to His Messenger, and to the believers, but the hypocrites do not know. (Qur’an: Al-Munafiqun:8)
Notes:
- Christians, Jews, and Muslims in the Middle East use the word “Allah” to refer to God, which refers to The Only True God. The word Allah was mentioned in the earlier version of the Old Testament 89 times. (Refer to Genesis 2:4, Book of Daniel 6:20 Hebrew and Arabic Bible).The word ‘Allah’ appears in the original Sanskrit text. (Reg Veda – Book 2 hymn 1, Verse
- The reference of God to Himself as WE or US in many verses of the Qur’an denotes Grandeur and Power in Arabic. In the English language this is known as the royal WE, where a plural pronoun is used to refer to a single person holding a high office, such as a monarch. For the avoidance of doubt, the Qur’an has consistently reminded us of the SINGULAR pronoun in reference to God, when called upon by His servants.
- The Qur’an is the last sacred book sent by God, but not the only book, as Muslims believe in all the earlier revelations of God (the scriptures of Abraham, the book of David, the Torah, the Gospel, etc.). Muslims believe that the original message in all the sacred books is Pure Monotheism (unifying God in worship). Unlike the Divine scriptures that preceded it, the Qur’an has not been kept in the hands of any particular group or clergymen of all Muslims which would lead to the misinterpretation or alteration of it. On the contrary, the Qur’an has always been within the reach of Muslims who recite it in their daily prayers, and they refer to it for all their concerns. Muslims read and recite the same Qur’anic text that was read and recited during the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad and his companions. Not a single letter has been added or removed from the Qur’an. The language of the Qur’an, the prophecies which came true, the accuracy in historical accounts, the mathematical inimitability and scientific accuracy, all prove that the Qur’an could not have been produced by a man who lived in Arabia in the 7th century and who could not read or write. God the Almighty challenged the Arabs and the non-Arabs to bring forth a book similar to the one He revealed, even though the Arabs at that time were masters of eloquence and rhetoric, they were unable to meet the challenge, and they realized that the Qur’an could not be from any other than God, the Lord of the universe.